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Friday, November 11, 2011

Loaded Mashed Potato Pie ~ Using Leftovers

Earlier this week, I shared a recipe for Mashed Potatoes and Cauliflower. It's our new favorite recipe for mashed potatoes. The last time I made them, I made a lot! I think I may have tripled the recipe, so there were a lot of leftovers. I decided to look for different ways to serve the leftovers.

Like any foodie, I have a long list of new recipes I want to try. I send myself emails containing recipes of interest, I've flooded my favorites file on my AOL toolbar, and I have post-its sticking out of my collection of cookbooks. A few of the bookmarked recipes have been tried and made again, but most of them are un-tried and forgotten about until I get a rare moment to sit and clean out all of those files or read a cookbook.

In recent months, I've discovered Pinterest. I love Pinterest. But, as most of you know, it's highly addictive. I've had to limit my pinning time to just a couple of hours a week, otherwise I could easily lose an entire day browsing through all the beautiful photos of food, crafts, home improvement ideas, etc.

After drooling over this Potato Tart photo on Pinterest, I knew I just had to make it right away. I didn't want this recipe to be one of the long-forgotten "must try" dishes that I tell myself I will try someday. The fact that this recipe called for leftover mashed potatoes and I had a big bowl of just that in the fridge really helped in my decision to not tuck this recipe away to be forgotten.

I was a bit nervous, though. This recipe called for pie crust. That's uncharted territory for me. The only thing I know of pie crusts are those pre-made graham cracker crusts sold in the pudding aisle of the super-market. And, though, I'm a pie crust newby, I knew that particular crust wasn't what I needed for this recipe.

I quickly sent out an email to my long-time friend, Lisa. I told her I needed help finding a pie crust recipe that would work for this savory dish. I also told her that I'd love to use Bisquick if at all possible, since I have a big ol' jar of it on my counter. I also told her that I don't have a rolling pin, so I needed something that I could make just using my hands. As always, Lisa was a great help. She pointed me to a simple pie crust recipe that turned out to be perfect for this meal. (Thanks, Lisa!)

As for the pie itself, I halved the recipe that I found on Pinterest for two reasons:

We're a small family. I knew that Grace wouldn't touch it and that Joe and I would be left eating the entire pie.

I wasn't sure how this recipe would turn out with my lack of crust making skills.

In halving the recipe, I adjusted the ingredient amounts a bit according to what I had in the fridge and what I thought we would like best. (i.e. less cheese since I'm not hugely fond of cheese, no green onions since I didn't have them.)

Oh, and I keep calling it a pie. The original recipe calls it a tart. The original recipe also looks beautiful and worthy of the fancier name. Plus, I used a pie pan since like the rolling pin, I don't own a tart pan (can you tell I don't bake?). So, I called this meal Loaded Mashed Potato Pie.

Press pie crust into plate and pierce bottom of crust with fork several times.

Partially bake for 5-7 minutes. Then allow to rest for 5 minutes.

While crust is baking, cook bacon in frying pan over medium heat, until crisp.

Remove bacon and set aside.

If needed, drain off grease. (The brand of turkey bacon we use, isn't greasy at all, so there was nothing to drain.)

Add onions to the pan and cook until tender and transparent. (Add a few drops of water as they are cooking if there isn't enough grease in the bottom of the pan.)

Next, you'll want to layer your pie filling. Starting with the mashed potatoes, spread evenly in the bottom of the pie crust.

Then, top the potatoes with a layer of sour cream, followed by the onion, then the bacon, and finally the cheese.

Season with salt and pepper.

Bake in oven for 15 minutes.

Slice and serve. Top with additional cheese or sour cream if desired.

Notes:

Remember when I said halved the recipe since it would just be the two of us eating this? Well, I wish I made 2 pies! When dinner was finished, there was just one piece left!

Reheats nicely! Since we only had one slice left, I didn't want to turn on the oven to reheat it. I simply heated it in a frying pan on the stove. I turned the burner on medium/low and covered with a lid and let it heat for a few minutes, checking it often.

This is an excellent side dish! We served this with chicken wings and coleslaw, I'm thinking this would also be a good served along with a bowl of soup in place of a sandwich.

Hello! Welcome to Under the Big Oak Tree! My name is Alison, I'm a stay at home mom and housewife. I enjoy cooking healthy, frugal meals for my family. As far back as I can remember, I've always wanted to be a mom. That dream finally came true when my daughter was born. She's the best thing to ever happen to me!